GYMNASTICS AIMS FOR MPSF TITLE ON SATURDAY

OPENING PASS
• The Sacramento State gymnastics team will be in search of its fourth Mountain Pacific Sports Federation championship and ninth conference title in the Div. I era when it travels to UC Davis on Saturday, March 22. The meet, which will be held at The Pavilion, will get under way at 6 p.m.

• Tickets for the meet can be purchased for $8-10 through the UC Davis website (ucdavisaggies.com).

• Sacramento State will be making its fifth appearance at the MPSF Championships. The Hornets won the first two MPSF titles with victories in 2002 and 2003. After finishing second in 2004, the team was again victorious in 2005. Following that year, Sacramento State departed for the Western Athletic Conference where it won titles in 2006 and 2007.

A LOOK AT THE OPPONENTS#30 San Jose State
The Spartans won the MPSF title in 2004…the team went 3-1 against the Hornets this season…SJSU has three 39-plus all-arounders plus senior Julia Greer on vault, beam and floor.

#31 UC Davis
The host Aggies have won the last four MPSF titles and five of the last six…Sacramento State went 2-1 against UCD in 2014…UC Davis has not counted a fall since Feb. 7.

Air Force
The Falcons and Hornets have not met this season…AFA has scored 195.075 and 195.300 in its last two meets.

Alaska Anchorage
The Seawolves were the MPSF champions in 2009…the team's high score this season has been 190.325…Sacramento State was 1-0 against UAA in 2014.

Seattle Pacific
SPU finished first at the MPSF meet in 2006 and 2007…Maria Hundley leads the team on vault, bars and beam…the Hornets won at SPU on Feb. 7.

BEEN THERE, DONE THAT
Sacramento State enters this week's meet knowing that it has defeated every conference team it has faced this season at least once. The Hornets began the year with wins over UC Davis and San Jose State at the NorCal Classic and recently added a second win over the Aggies. Sacramento State also has wins at Seattle Pacific and at home against Alaska Anchorage. In all, the team went 5-4 against fellow MPSF foes.

The Hornets are also no strangers to success at conference meets. Sacramento State won two Western Independent Conference championships before winning three out of four MPSF crowns, including the 2005 contest at UC Davis. After jumping to the WAC, the Hornets won in their first two tries. Six of the top 10 scores in school history have come at conference championships.

Individually, Kailey Hansen was the WAC champion on beam and floor in 2012. The senior is the only active member of the team to win a conference individual title.

POSTSEASON PLANS
Following the MPSF Championships, several Sacramento State gymnasts have the possibility of competing at the NCAA Regional in Seattle. The top 36 teams in the final RQS rankings will earn bids to the six regionals. Each regional site will also include the top five all-arounders from the local region as well as the highest individual on each event outside qualified teams and all-arounders.

For the Hornets, only junior Kalliah McCartney has punched her ticket to the regional. McCartney is currently the top individual all-arounder in the west among teams outside of the top 36. The appearance will be her third in as many years. Redshirt freshman Jesse Williams will also join McCartney as long as she is able to complete all four events at the MPSF meets — giving her the necessary number of scores to create an RQS.

If the current standings remain, Hansen and junior Dallas Smith would also go on beam and floor, respectively.

In another twist, if Washington qualifies as a team (currently 34th), the West Region would only have three all-arounders which would allow two more event specialists in each event. If that is the case, Hansen and Julia Konner are in position to qualify on vault, Kaila Kilwein on bars, Kayla Wonderly on beam and Hansen on floor.

LOOK WHO'S BACK
McCartney is slated to compete in her first official all-around for the first time since Feb. 14. The junior returned to all four events last week, including an exhibition on floor and totaled 39.275. McCartney finished first on vault with a 9.850 and second on floor with the same score. She tied for fifth on beam with a 9.750 before a 9.850 on her floor exhibition. If her all-around score would have counted, it would have been McCartney's season high and tied for the ninth best in school history.